Riviera anglers were led by his mate who was also fished.  “He caught two sails and a white (marlin), my other three guys caught three more whites and one sail. We caught seven out of nine bites, and one of those was a broken line on a blue.”  Taking the tournament seriously, Eddie was permitted to stay on board after landing his first white; however, he was unceremoniously deposited in the pool during the festivities!   It was a very tight finish according to Capt Ron  “It was an exciting finish with the Dream Catcher tied with us at 1200 points but behind on time, and the Joropo at 1100 points with three hours to go.  The last three minutes the Joropo jumped off a white that would have won it for them.  A real nail biter finish.”  When I contacted Capt Ron his first comments regarding the tournament were “Thanks to Joan Vernon running her secnd Caribbean Cup” and how pleased he was to see an “all Circle Hook Tournament there in Venezuela” and that “the locals are getting more confidence in using Circle Hooks” True to Capt Ron Hamlin leadership in the Sportfishing community

Capt Ron Hamlin, along with his mate Ross “Flash” Clark, pioneered the bait and switch technique, now the most commonly used technique for billfishing, in 1983. His circle-hook rig is acknowledged as the most effective at hooking billfish developed thus far. Hamlin's rig keeps all of the bridle material under the hook, allowing it to pivot in the fish's mouth and hook solidly in the jaw. Capt Ron uses the Eagle Claw circle hooks exclusively.  His tireless efforts in promoting Catch and Release and Tagging has earned Captain Ron many accolades. Capt Ron’s feels the most memorable was” receiving the Environmental Hero award from NOAA.“

When I asked Capt Ron about his most memorable fishing experience he stated “Having the double header of 1,000 pounds on in Venezuela” He failed to mention that not only was a grander caught out of that double header, but that it was the first blue marlin over 1,000 pounds caught off the shores of Venezuela, weighing in at 1023 pounds. To top it off his mate Andres Cadez gaffed the monster after only ten minutes of fighting!  The angler on this grander was Bill Reid

Captain Ron Hamlin moved to Guatemala 1994 when Tim Choate opened the now defunct Fin and Feathers.  Capt Ron’s credits for continuing his success in Guatemala “Bill Gooch (is) who bought me the Captain Hook, which jump started my career here in Guatemala.”  Capt Hamlin tells me that Bill’s wife Susan, a former Miss World, is an avid saltwater fly fishing person with a couple of world record Pacific sails, one on 8 lb tippet fly and the other on 12 lb tippet fly.”  Capt Hamlin’s distinguished career is far from over; he will be tearing up the sails in Guatemala for the winter and then headed for a month to Bermuda to chase marlin.  Anglers interested in fishing with this legend will need to contact Herb Rossell at Southfishing.

Captain Ron Hamlin’s Legacy